I was covering a succession of thrash metal
bands when I recieved the "Attention Please" CD from a publicist
I have worked with in the past. I popped it into the CD player in
my car and was surprised at what I heard. I found myself smiling
and my head nodding back and forth to this passionate, hard hitting, old
school rock. At first I thought the vocals sounded a little like
Creed's, but then I realized that Caroline's Jimmy Newquist
has a much larger range. Picture a mixture of Creed, Pearl Jam and
Collective Soul, then mix in an extra dash of sensuality and a whole lot
of fun and you have "Caroline's Spine."
I wasted no time in arranging to take in
a concert on their most recent tour and stopped in early to have a chat
with vocalist and primary song writer, Jimmy. Arriving during the
tail end of sound check, I was greeted, one by one, by the four musicians
who make up Caroline's Spine. So, this would be a band interview
huh? Fine, it'll be a free for all, but that's what makes this so
much fun. So off we all went, to the dressing rooms for the interview.
Our candid talk about the music business and Caroline's sound
was great fun and I saw in them the quality of fierce determination
and dedication to their music. Come get to know them with me.
I think you will find they are a cool bunch of guys and come to respect
their muscianship and their humor as much as I did:
Meet
The Players:
Left - Right: Jimmy
Newquist (vocals, guitar), Jason Gilardi (drums), Scott Jones (bass), Mark
Haugh (guitar, vocals).
The
Interview:
(Debbie Seagle for) Rock N World:
So I understand you guys are from the Phoenix (Arizona) area. Lots
of good musicians from around there. Did you find it difficult breaking
into the music scene there? How did you start out?
Mark: Unless you already had
a name in the industry, it was very difficult to get colleges or get venues
around ASU.
RNW: So you were doing the
Taco Bell circuit, is that it?
Scott: Yeah, basically.
Jason: Still are (laughs)
RNW: Now, now, this place
is cool.
Jason: I know but we’ll still
probably eat at Taco Bell tonight!
RNW: Why not? I live
at Starbucks myself.
RNW: I’m going to put together
a feature for Rock N World Online, also antiMUSIC. They’re both kind
of rock music web portals and the features I normally do are called "Back
Stage Pass," so I am going to tell people about your CD and about
the concert. Talk about the music a little bit, you know, what the
music’s about, but more today the interview questions are going to be centered
around the music business and how you are finding the music business.
First of all, the obvious groaner question
that I have to ask because people are going to want to know: Where
did you come up with the name "Caroline’s Spine?" That’s totally
unusual.
Jason: Scott came up with
it, you’ve got to ask him.
Scott: When I joined the band,
I was the last member to join,
I was told that Caroline’s Spine was a fictitious character that moved
amongst the dark depths of this band . . . (laughs, looking around) what
the fuck is it? See I wasn’t even here, you guys came up with the
name, I had no part in it.
Mark: Hopefully the spine,
the music cuts to the spine of the issue, you know? Cause music in
general should cut to the core of the issue, the spine of the matter.
And Jimmy had a script that had a character named "Caroline."
Jason: Jim and Mark went to
film school.
Mark: Yeah, that’s where we
got it actually.
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